Impressions of You
by Beyond Kailani
Summary: A series of one shots inspired by the senses.


**Authors Note** : These are all fics that are going to have been inspired by the senses. It'll be updated as and when inspiration hits! 

A big thank you to Mithril for beta'ing! She's awesome and if you haven't yet checked out her fics, what have you been doing?!

I'd also like to point out that Mithril has already told me off for writing this. Several times. But in my defence… okay I have no defence. Slight angst ahead, folks! You have been warned!

 **XXX**

 **Hearing - Heartbeat**

 **XXX**

"Hm, twenty-seven to twenty-three," Sabo sighed, stepping back from the make-shift scoreboard set up in the clearing the three young boys had adopted as their training grounds. "Ace wins again."

Ace smirked. "You're getting slow, Sabo. I'm kicking your ass this week!" he crowed.

Sabo whipped around, the chalk falling from his dusty hands, chipping slightly as it hit the ground but neither boy paid it any attention. "I'm not slow! You know you hit me too hard in the forty-eighth round! My arm's still numb!"

Ace's only retort was a humorous chuckle. "You sound like Luffy, making up excuses," he accused, causing Sabo to squawk in disbelief.

"I don't make up excuses!" Luffy chipped in, still spread-eagled and panting on the floor where Ace's last punch had left him. He only continued to half listen to his older brothers' friendly squabbling as he tried desperately to catch his breath.

Sabo was right; Ace had been on fine form that afternoon and had gone all out, not showing either of his brothers any mercy. Luffy wasn't entirely sure why, but he _had_ overheard Sabo complaining earlier that morning that Ace needed to calm down a little, and that just because they were living by themselves now didn't mean they were going to be attacked at every opportunity. Luffy hadn't quite understood what the blond had meant, but he'd guessed that Ace was trying to get stronger in order to defend their new treehouse.

Luffy had vowed to do the same when Sabo had confirmed his suspicions, but right now he was more interested in recovering from their training for the day. And why his chest was making a funny thumping sound.

Luffy frowned deeply and raised a hand to rest it against his breastbone, feeling the fast, steady pounding underneath his fingertips.

" – still be sulking? Oi! Luffy!"

The seven year old jerked in surprise, and he felt something in his chest jump at the same time. He tilted his head back to stare up at Ace when his brother's shadow fell across his face. The freckled boy stared down at him with his arms crossed.

"What?" Luffy asked.

"I said," Ace sighed impatiently. "You're quiet. You can't still be sulking that you lost all your matches again, are you?" he repeated.

Luffy pouted at the reminder. "I'm not sulking!" he denied fiercely, before finally pushing himself up, one hand still pressed firmly against his shirt.

"What's the annoyed face for then?" Ace asked curiously, as Sabo wandered over.

"I think my chest is broken," Luffy said. He expected some worried fussing from his big brothers, not the stunned silence before the pair burst into hearty laughter. "It's not funny!" he cried, jumping to his feet angrily before pausing when he felt the thing in his chest leap in unison with his movement.

Sabo, even in his slight hysteria, saw Luffy's aborted movement and gradually brought his laughter under control. "What do you mean, Luffy? You can't have broken your chest," he explained gently.

Ace nodded in agreement. "Exactly. You're made of rubber. It doesn't matter how hard we hit you. We _can't_ break you."

"Well you did this time!" Luffy shouted, prodding his chest curiously. It didn't hurt, and it had practically disappeared since he'd recovered his breath, but he still wasn't sure his brothers were right. "I felt something thumping in here," he added, his fingertips resting over the area just to the left.

Sabo burst into laughter again, startling his brothers and causing both to stare at him, one with mild amusement and the youngest with annoyance. Luffy honestly expected Ace to be the one to tease him mercilessly, not Sabo. Sabo was meant to be the nice big brother, although as the blond continued to snicker, trying and failing to stop laughing, Luffy was quickly revising his opinion.

"Sorry, Luffy," Sabo hiccupped, wiping his eyes free of tears as Luffy glared up at him. "But you _definitely_ haven't broken your chest," he said.

"What is it, then?" Luffy asked inquisitively, somewhat mollified by the apology. "Is it a mystery?"

Sabo shook his head. "Nope. It's your heartbeat," he explained with a grin.

"Oh," Ace exclaimed in understanding before turning to Luffy in disbelief. "Have you really never felt your heart beating before?" he wondered.

Luffy shrugged weakly, feeling more than a little confused. No one had ever explained the concept of a heartbeat to him before. He knew what a heart was, thanks to once overhearing Shanks telling Benn his heart belonged to Makino. Shanks had had to buy out Partys Bar of all their meat in order to keep Luffy's silence for hearing _that_ comment. Luffy hadn't understood why. He thought Makino would like to know Shank's heart belonged to her. Although what she would do with it, he had no idea.

Luffy thought carefully about the last time Gramps had visited. He'd felt something similar back then but he'd been too busy running away to focus on it, and afterwards he had been far too sore to worry about what it could've been.

"Maybe after I've trained with Gramps?" Luffy puzzled, causing both his big brothers to shudder at the memory of Garp's idea of 'training'. "Are you sure it's not broken?" he worried, peering up at the blond.

"You've not broken anything, Luffy," Sabo assured him, smiling back down at him fondly.

Ace snorted. "You really sure?" he asked teasingly, quickly ducking out of the way of Sabo's fist before it could hit him.

"Ace, you're not helping," Sabo chastised. He turned to Luffy and held out a hand, which Luffy gratefully grasped. The dark-haired boy was a little surprised when Sabo raised Luffy's much smaller hand to the blond's own chest and pressed it against his chest. "Everyone has a heartbeat, Luffy. You can feel it when you touch this part of anyone's chest," he explained. "It shows someone's alive. When it stops beating, it means they've died."

Luffy stared at his brother's chest in amazement. Underneath his palm, he could feel a strong and steady beat resounding within his brother's chest. He grinned up at Sabo after a moment. "It's quieter than mine was," he mused, keeping his hand pressed up against the blue shirt and trying to count the beats.

Sabo shrugged. "I'm used to training with Ace on a regular basis. Even though you've been running around Fushia Village and the forest with us, you've probably never really exerted yourself before. It beats faster the harder you work," he clarified.

Luffy nodded, even though he hadn't quite understood all of what Sabo had said.

"Guess that means we're going to have to push you a little harder in training," said Ace with a grin. "You'll never catch up to us otherwise."

Again, Luffy nodded seriously – he really wanted to catch up to his brothers - although Sabo rolled his eyes at the other boy's gentle teasing.

"You can hear a heartbeat, too, you know," Sabo added as an afterthought.

"Really?" Luffy cried excitedly. Sabo barely had time to nod before he was nearly knocked backwards by Luffy lunging forward and pressing on ear up against his chest eagerly. Luffy felt as much as heard Sabo's laughter from where he was huddled up against him. Luffy shushed him sternly, shooting Ace an annoyed look when he chortled. When all was finally silent enough, Luffy could indeed make out a soft ' _ba bump'_ from deep within Sabo's chest, causing a delighted grin to spread across his face.

"I can hear it!" he giggled. He pulled away from Sabo, fixing his gaze firmly on Ace. The other dark-haired boy eyed him warily. "Let me hear Ace's too!" he shouted, jumping towards his other brother.

Ace wasn't quite quick enough to dodge the rubbery limbs that stretched towards him and tightly latched onto him. He wiggled around in the vice-like grip for a moment, before the rubber arms contracted and the rest of Luffy's body thudded into him, knocking the pair of them over.

Ignoring Ace's shouts of frustration, Luffy pressed up an ear against the chest beneath him, quickly finding the echoing _'ba-dump'_.

"Ace's is louder than Sabo's," he commented idly, sitting up. Ace grunted at the sudden weight resting on his stomach.

"Well, that either means," Sabo started, "I'm much fitter than Ace and have a quicker recovery time, or Ace is embarrassed," he finished with a smirk. Ace glared at him darkly.

"Sabo's sounds nicer," Luffy declared.

"What?!" Ace cried, indignantly. Luffy yelped in alarm as Ace broke free of his rubbery grip. He leapt away quickly before Ace could catch him, ducking to safety behind Sabo who laughed again. "How can one heartbeat sound nicer than another?" Ace demanded, rising to his feet and planting his hands on his hips.

"Dunno. Just does," Luffy said, resting his head against Sabo's back. It was harder to hear through the thicker jacket Sabo favoured, but under the low rumblings of Sabo's voice as he distracted Ace by changing the subject, Luffy could just make out the gentle and steady thumps of the blond's heart.

Luffy remained pressed up against his brother for the rest of the afternoon, for once content to sit and listen rather than join in with his brothers.

It would be ten years later, that Luffy would vaguely recall Sabo's explanation of heartbeats as he pressed a bloody hand to Ace's back and felt his brother's heart give one last, feeble beat before falling silent.

 **xxx**

 _ **Dressrosa – Twelve Years Later**_

Luffy could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness, and in the distance, he could hear delighted cries and shouts of elation. More than anything, Luffy desperately wished they would shut up. He couldn't fall asleep properly with all the screaming rebounding off the demolished walls that once made up the beautiful city of Dressrosa.

Doflamingo's Bird Cage had practically reduced the city to rubble. Although, Luffy had certainly helped the process along by using his Gear Fourth in such a confined space.

As he continued to lay where he had fallen, practically plastered against the remains of a street, limbs spread out every which way and completely useless, Luffy's thoughts turned to his nakama. He hoped they'd escaped the worst of the destruction. The constricting Bird Cage had been worrisome for a moment until Doflamingo had finally fallen and he hoped no one had been caught up in its path.

He wondered how long it would take one of them to find him. He certainly couldn't move. Even the thought of opening his eyes hurt but he couldn't drop his guard completely. Not yet. He could feel the presence of dozens of bodies milling about not too far away and he wasn't sure whether they were friend or foe right then. And he was far too tired to extend his haki.

"I think he landed over here somewhere." Trafalgar Law's voice suddenly called from not too far away, and Luffy felt a rush of relief that at least one of his nakama was okay. He barely had time to attempt to muster up the energy to roll his head to the side before he felt a shadow fall across him.

"I found him," another familiar voice said softly, keeping their voice considerately low, which Luffy was thankful for as his head was really starting to ache.

A pair of strong arms, slid underneath him and raised him gently. A second pair of much smaller, gloved hands supported him in turn until Luffy was pressed against someone's back, the warmth seeping into his aching body and relieving sore muscles.

"You got him?" a girl asked.

"Yeah." A pair of hands slid under his knees and Luffy felt himself lifted into the air. He groaned at the sudden movement which, even with his eyes still pressed tight shut, caused a small wave of vertigo to wash over him. "Sorry, Luffy. We'll lay you back down in a bit but we need to get off the streets."

Luffy was barely paying any attention, because underneath his ear he could feel a strong and familiar steady beat of a heart. Something he had never expected to hear again.

"Sabo?" Luffy muttered, eyes opening a fraction and finding a black coat filling his blurry vision.

"Yeah, it's just me," Sabo returned, grip tightening ever so slightly before he set off at a gentle pace, mindful of Luffy's injuries. "Koala, you go on ahead and see if you can find Hack. He should've found the rest of the Revolutionaries who were turned into toys by now. I'll catch up with you later."

"I'll call you with our rendezvous point when I find one." A young woman in a pale pink top slipped past Sabo, flashing Luffy a warm smile before disappearing over a pile of rubble.

Mustering the last of his strength, Luffy slowly and painfully forced his arms to move, wrapping them weakly around his brother, who glanced over his shoulder and flashed him a painfully familiar grin.

"That was a reckless technique you've created there, Strawhat."

Luffy rolled his head to the side and spotted Law walking unsteadily towards the brothers, one hand clutching his injured arm tightly.

"Did you expect anything else?" Sabo wondered, adjusting his pace to allow the doctor to fall into step beside him.

"Wasn't…reckless…" Luffy muttered.

"Yes it was, Luffy," Sabo told him. Luffy could barely muster up the energy to pout properly but he did manage a small grunt of displeasure, which only made Sabo chuckle lightly, the sound reverberating straight through his chest and into Luffy's ear.

"W-where's…everyone…" Luffy started but he could feel the darkness seeping into the edged of his vision.

"Koala spoke to Robin. She said they're all fine," Sabo assured him. "We're heading towards them now. Go to sleep," he ordered the young captain.

The relief, coupled with the exhaustion that had gradually been creeping up on him, was enough to send Luffy's eyelids drooping heavily and he slumped completely against his brother, soaking in the unnatural heat radiating from Sabo's body. He finally fell asleep to the chorus of his brother's heartbeat in his ear.

 **XXX**


End file.
